Infinite Speculums
by lovelytunes
Summary: A/U: He has just returned to the country from abroad whereas at the same time, she was abruptly transferred to another work department without choice. Together, their destinies started to get entangled by that one queer force...
1. Chapter 1: Illusion

She beheld the minuscule object in her hand and uttered a faint whisper, "What fate..." To think that it had earlier been nothing but a plain-looking mirror through which she was allowed entrance into this alternate dimension of fantastical enchantment tickled her pleasure immensely.

"Now," she thought herself hearing destiny began to chant. "Reality is no greater than the size of your thumb, but your imaginary world is being magnified immeasurably. Take charge..."

Seated together with her on the swinging bench, the very wellspring of her elation, he turned to face her, casting the most dreamlike smile and questioned, "You sure that you're not going to return to the real world?"

"Among all things, why ask me this?" She muttered beyond earshot inwardly. At such a time when she discovered new hope to revitalise her groaning years of emptiness, to let go was the last option which she would consider. This time-defying universe, teeming with the fragrance of utopia, was taking each delightful pounding of revelment from her heart to the overflow of ravishing sensations all about her ageless being.

"That's because, I care," he responded to her unspoken remark. She was deeply touched, like any hopeless romantic would be, though it brought to realisation that she was still not accustomed to the telepathic communication mode currently in effect.

She allowed herself to sink into the depths of his clear earnest eyes. Despite how alien she felt in this illusive realm, the barriers of their opposite nature of existence kept thinning gradually over each distinct throbbing of her heart.

She smiled to acknowledge her acceptance of his concern. Braving all hesitations, her hand instinctively reached up to his warm temple. In a brief moment, she lunged forward to hug him tight.

She shut her eyes to cast aside all unsettling thoughts. He felt both soft and firm in their embrace, enough to assure her what it was like to be close to an ideal love.

"What makes you so certain of our fate?" she heard him speaking once more against the movement of her tresses.

She was unnerved for a second, before finally answering without a tinge of worry, "Every beat of my heart speaks of you eternally..."

"Then, let me," he replied. "Turn into the very essence of each one..."

As soon as he finished those words, a blinding light grew from that little speck of item resting on the bench surface. In a flash, She felt her unstable senses transformed along with the overpowering fluctuating intensity. In the end, what returned were all things mundane.


	2. Chapter 2: Recall

"Oh, me and my sick brain," Rainie yawned wearily as she headed out of the exam room. She could not make out what she had been paying attention to during the course lecture and hands-on demonstrations. Holding up her marked paper to her eye-level, she ought to thank the miracle of not failing it as she had been asleep over half the time while the exam was going on.

She heaved a sigh of relief. Not long, she heard her name being called from among the crowd and that incredibly high-pitched voice made her cringed.

"Rainie, my dear!" she yelped and dashed towards her to give a breath-stopping hug to the reluctant girl.

She did her best to pull apart from her over-reacting buddy, "Please, I still need to live, will you?"

She flashed a wide smile and grasped Rainie's hands tight till the latter could find no way of release, "Sorry, but I knew that I got to say this - thank you!"

She simply nodded nonchalantly, "Don't crumple the paper..."

"Oh yeah, my bad," the excitement in her tone finally died down a little as she took the exam sheets from Rainie.

"Sorry, it's a marginal pass mark," she confessed.

"What?" her eyes widened in unbelief.

Rainie crossed her arms and stressed further, "In reality, it's 49.5% rounded up to 50.0%...Gui Gui, I did all that I can..."

"Huh?" she checked the score to be more certain. Her face changed immediately to embrace the harsh truth, "Well, who told me to have you attend this CPR class in my place...I guess I deserve this outcome..." Without saying further, the down-cast girl turned about and walked away.

Watching her, Rainie felt compassion on Gui Gui as well as guilt on her own negligence. She understood the girl all too clearly to realise that she needed ample amount of quiet time by herself to cope with this result.

Shrugging off all disturbing regrets, she too went on her own opposite way out of the building.

Once in the open, Rainie sat down under the bright sunshine in the midst of the refreshing greens and nice flora. She leaned back for a deserving time of rest, shutting her eyes to relax.

Smiling to acknowledge her acceptance of his concern, she braved all hesitations. Her hand instinctively reached up to his warm temple. In a brief moment, she lunged forward to hug him tight.

She shut her eyes to cast aside all unsettling thoughts. He felt both soft and firm in their embrace, enough to assure her what it was like to be close to an ideal love.

"What makes you so certain of our fate?" she heard him speaking once more against the movement of her tresses.

She was unnerved for a second, before finally answering without a tinge of worry, "Every beat of my heart speaks of you eternally..."

"Then, let me," he replied. "Turn into the very essence of them all..."

End of flashback...

Rainie instantly jolted upright, "The dream...why am I recalling once more?" She frowned and scratched her head in confusion. It happened while she was in slumber halfway through the exam.

Moaning over a strange premonition it caused, she repeated absent-mindedly, "Every beat of my heart speaks of you eternally..."

"Heartbeat?" he thought in response after overhearing a weird self conversation by a girl coming from behind him. He was seated right on another bench fixed back to back with Rainie's one. Deeply contemplating further, he finally reached a decision over a good name to pick. Adjusting his shades and cap a little, he then got up and left the spot.

As for Rainie, she simply shook her head miserably to fend off all troubling possibilities. The sound of an incoming text message on her phone reminded her that it was time to start her new shift. She stood up, turned around and inevitably spotted a cup of empty drink lying on the bench across from where she had been sitting on.

"Oh, it's only luck that you managed to escape a fine!" she muttered under her breath.


	3. Chapter 3: Identity

Rainie checked the text on her phone to be certain that she has found the right place. Indeed, there was no mistake. However, just by the sight of the store front caused her to feel immensely uneasy.

Yet, a beep from her wristwatch alerted the always punctual Rainie that if she were not to head inside, she would be eating up her work time.

Approaching closer and pushing the door open, she thought her heart nearly skipped a beat. As she lifted her gaze to behold, what met her eyes from every angle and corner with myriad harassing reflections instantly made her retreat and gasped nervously.

"Hey, are you Miss Yang?" She heard a nice-sounding man called out from inside. He soon quicken his pace towards her to hold the door.

In spite of the surging anxiety, Rainie mastered courage to respond and looked up at him, "Yes, I am here to report for my new shift..."

"Great," he smiled pleasantly. "I am Manager Lee of this shop and heard that you have been a very hardworking admin assistant for the HR department to transfer you here. But, I must say that I will soon be your ex-manager as the company plans to have you replace me in a matter of weeks..."

Rainie was thoroughly shocked, "Me? To be this store's manager?"

He nodded to affirm, "Exactly!"

"But...but..." Rainie literally felt that her own world, once extremely stable, was being hurled upside down. She grasped the manager's hands and pleaded desperately, "Please,...ever since I got cut by a piece of mirror at the age of 17, for as long as ten years until now, I have a phobia of mirrors...Can you help me reject this job, please?"

He was quite taken aback by her reaction but giving a helpless expression, Rainie somehow sensed that in the days ahead, nightmares would start looming around the corner.

Over in a particular work studio, a flustered assistant was repeatedly busy punching numbers trying to get in touch with a person who would forever give him the headaches when being rushed the last minute.

"Oh he's not there...Okay, thanks," he concluded the fiftieth unsuccessful call.

He sighed impatiently and was about to flip through another page in the contact list when the lift behind the sliding doors opened.

"Thank God!" he exclaimed and charged out of the place. Seeing him at last, he pressed, "My honourable designer, where have you been? Everyone has been asking for you!"

He took down his cap and smirked, "To get inspirations, you know me well to be aware of that..."

The overly-concerned young man shook his head with disappointment, "I know, but phonecalls having been chasing after me alone like crazy...Plus, you have just returned from abroad after so many years, this country is still foreign to you..."

He simply offered a warm pat on his shoulder, "Got it! The name's been decided!"

Hearing which, the uptight guy was rewarded with newfound assurance and folded his arms with curious interest, "Hey, not bad...care to reveal by now?"

"Sure," he agreed open-mindedly. "Heart-Throb, the Mirror of Love..."

For a full minute, he let those words sunk in before marvelling, "Jiro, is there a story behind this?"


	4. Chapter 4: Clueless

"Jiro! Do you seriously know what you're talking about?" he could not buy his words.

"Of course I do," the calm guy removed his shades. "But understand this, Prince...All of my jewellery designs have been sold to and worn by every single famous person I knew of and that already satisfies me immensely. So, I will be giving it away for free."

His assistant shook his head in disbelief, "First, you decided to have that...that..."

"Heart-Throb," Jiro filled in for him.

"Okay, Heart-Throb sold and contribute half of its proceeds to charity...Now, it's totally for free! Jiro, what's gotten into you? I notice that ever since we're back here in Taiwan, you're turning all unpredictable!" he simply could not accept what was told upfront.

Jiro simply unlocked a hidden safe under the table and grabbed out some keys. He got up and offered a warm pat on his best pal's back before heading out of the office without a second word.

Over in the store which specialised in all kind of selections of mirrors, Rainie was forced to remain in a world which caused her much anxiety and sent shivers after shivers down her spine. Not daring to cast more than a few glances over at the place, she was praying hard that Manager Lee's talk with the HR department inside his office would produce good results.

Next, a lady customer entered the shop, much to Rainie's unwillingness.

"Excuse me, I'm here to collect Mary-Ann," she informed the tensed girl.

Rainie uneasily returned, 'Huh? There's no other person here..."

She was a little surprised at her misunderstanding, "Mary-Ann is a set of antique mirror I ordered last week...You're new here?"

Rainie's cheeks reddened as she quickly rushed to inquire Manager Lee who was still on the phone. Half and hour later, she appeared out of the rear storeroom bringing out a wrapped life-size item.

From where she was, Rainie could easily observe the apparent impatience written across the customer's face. She quickened her pace, gasping for breath due to the heavy weight of the mirror.

Yet, it was only inevitable that her gaze fell on the numerous mirrors placed along the way. Heart throbbing at accelerating rate, Rainie was starting to feel giddy with each passing second. Her weak hands also experienced a spread of numbness. In the end, the object fell from her grasp as she kicked hard against the edge of an obstructing mirror on display.

Her head spinning uncontrollably, everything appeared to black out and the sound of shattering glass was all she heard off before losing her footing.

Coming to the door at the end of a hidden hallway, Jiro slipped in one of the keys in his hand to unlock it.

She seemed to feel that once familiar spell of blinding light at first enveloping her being and afterwards, slowly leaving her senses. It soon gave way to surrounding darkness as she became alert again and opened her eyes. As expected, nothing could be seen without a single trace of light in the place. Yet, she was sure that her heart was still beating and there was life energy in her body.

He opened the door and stepped in. Light finally seeped into the area. However, what met his eyes and teeming expectations made him wonder curiously.

Rainie turned about, at last realising that she was crouched down on the floor. The room she found herself in was wide empty and spacious. Then, she squinted her eyes to make out more clearly if there was a figure of a person approaching carefully towards her. She got up.

Due to the weak intensity of the available rays streaming from the dimly-lit hallway outside, Jiro stopped in his track. At this point in time, he was half-convinced that there was another person aside from himself inside this well-secluded room. He fingered his keys and pointed a small remote attached to them in the direction of a sensor affixed onto the wall behind him. It succeeded in switching on the lights.

Once all bright and clear, Rainie winced from the strong glare suddenly cast on her.

"How did you get in here?" he was overly startled and questioned with detectable suspicion.

She lifted her hand to her face, trying to shield her eyes from the sudden light. "I was," she stuttered innocently. "I...really...have no idea..."

He came closer, the sound of her voice made him recalled the moment back in the park.

Flashback...

Rainie instantly jolted upright, "The dream...am I recalling once more?" She frowned and scratched her head in confusion. It happened while she was in slumber halfway through the exam.

Moaning over a strange premonition it caused, she repeated absent-mindedly, "Every beat of my heart speaks of you eternally..."

"Heartbeat?" he thought in response after overhearing a weird sort of monologue by a girl coming from behind him. He was seated right on another bench fixed back to back with Rainie's one. Deeply contemplating further, he finally reached a decision over a good name to pick. Adjusting his shades and cap a little, he then got up and left the spot.

End of flashback...

"It's you?" he was surprised upon coming up to her side. Then, he also made sure that the undisclosed jewellery necklace, the name of which he had just revealed to his assistant less than an hour ago, inside its tightly-guarded pressure-proof enclosing case at the opposite end of the room was still safely intact.

Since the only copies of all keys leading to this secret room were still in his possession, Jiro could not find any reason to accuse of stealing her way in here.

"Hey bud, are you in there?" they both heard his assistant calling from the hallway.

He turned about, only to spot the movement of a faint shadow near the doorway. Then, considering Rainie, he quickly grabbed her hand and pulled along with him to hide behind an obscure corner.

"Gosh, why's this left open? And I don't have the keys...What's with Jiro these days?" He nagged in frustration. After giving a brief glance, closed the door with a loud thud.

At such close proximity with him, Rainie could not help but feel the pulsating of her heart running wild without restraint. She could hear the sound of both their nervous breathing all so clearly in the midst of a sharp, crisp silence. Even sensing as well the heat of his palm overflowing with such an uplifting degree onto her chilly one, it was like time abruptly pausing its course for her, or could also possibly, both theirs sake.

Once footsteps had trailed off, he finally led them out of the hiding. This time, there was undeniable awkwardness between the two. He soon realised that their fingers were still closely entwined together and let go of his hand nervously.

Rainie timidly stepped back, though still extremely lightheaded and puzzled over what was currently going on.


	5. Chapter 5: Explanations

When they were finally on safe ground out of the jewellery room and private hallway at the rear of the building, Jiro still went further to make sure that no one noticed them at all corners. Afterwards, he spoke to her soberly, "Do you know how serious the consequence of this is?"

Rainie was still blurred, "Huh? Wait, I really don't know how I ended here..."

He was not going to take her words lightly but did cut her off before giving a chance to finish, "Now, there can be many reasons why...But I got to tell you, 'Heartbeat' has yet to be unveiled to the public and we're not supposed to leak out any detail yet..."

She only looked at him with creased eyebrows and deeply earnest gaze as he said so. Aside from not making out what exactly he was trying to tell her, she was starting to get convinced that he would not possibly believe her end of the story.

Momentarily, his tone somewhat softened, at least according to what Rainie felt. He then questioned, "Are you a nursing college student?"

Rainie was taken aback, "Nursing college? Me?"

Flashback...

Rainie crossed her arms and stressed further, "In reality, it's 49.5% rounded up to 50.0%...Gui Gui, I did all that I could..."

"Huh?" she checked the score to be more certain. Her face changed immediately to embrace the harsh truth, "Well, who told me to have you attend this CPR class in my place...I guess I deserve this outcome..." Without saying further, the down-cast girl turned about and walked away.

Watching her, Rainie felt compassion on Gui Gui as well as guilt on her own negligence. She understood the girl all too clearly to realise that she needed ample amount of quiet time by herself to cope with this result.

Shrugging off all disturbing regrets, she too went on her own opposite way out of the building.

Once in the open, Rainie sat down under the bright sunshine in the midst of the refreshing greens and nice flora. She leaned back for a deserving time of rest, shutting her eyes to relax.

Present...

The minute followed turned indecisive. Rainie was in a dilemma to admit as she had promised Gui Gui to cover for her.

Jiro waited expectantly for her answer. Seeing her obviously struggling within, he wondered what caused her to be so indecisive. He was fully certain that they had been together at the park outside that college earlier on.

Flashback...

Moaning over a strange premonition it caused, she repeated absent-mindedly, "Every beat of my heart speaks of you eternally..."

"Heartbeat?" he thought in response after overhearing a weird self conversation by a girl coming from behind him. He was seated right on another bench fixed back to back with Rainie's one. Deeply contemplating further, he finally reached a decision over a good name to pick. Adjusting his shades and cap a little, he then got up and left the spot.

Now...

"No, I am not one...I have never been there," Rainie let out at last.

Beyond all doubt, Jiro knew that she was lying. He was utterly disappointed and took a step backwards from her, "I wonder if stalking somebody is a nice game to play with. Anyway, I really hope to not see you showing up again in this place. Then, I can pretend that we have never bumped into each other at all so that unnecessary lawsuit matters will not result." Turning about, he walked away from her and entered back into the building.

Rainie let his last words sunk in and unknowingly felt a sharp stab in her heart. She too left the area dejectedly, the giant cloud of confusion hovering over her mind and being, forced her to blink back welling tears in her weak eyes.

"Now, there can be many reasons why...But I got to tell you, 'Heartbeat' has yet to be unveiled to the public and we're not supposed to leak out any detail yet..." What Jiro disclosed echoed aimlessly inside her as she trotted down the deserted sidewalk.

She sobbed hard, "Just what were you talking about? Who won't know that 'heartbeat' is the most precious thing in the whole world that a person could ever possess?"


	6. Chapter 6: Doubt

Walking down the sidewalk, it was only after a while when Rainie realised that she didn't have her wallet and cellphone with her. There was no way that she could possibly call a cab.

Soon coming to a bus-stop, she sat down on the sheltered bench. Looking all around, she could not make out which part of the city she was now in. "Oh my, there's no one in sight to help me out? What am I to do here?" she moaned sorrowfully.

A bus arrived the next moment. Having no other option, she decided to try her luck on talking the driver into giving her a lift. She hurried to get on the bus.

"Hello, Prince?" Jiro was on the phone with his assistant as he drove out of the building parkade and ended up pulling behind the bus.

He continued more resolutely, "I just want to reconfirm with you of my decision to really giving away 'Heart-Throb' for free...As for the selection of this lucky recipient, I have already started an online survey last minute before leaving the office. Will divulge further relevant details once getting the results of the survey, okay? See you!"

"What? Jiro!" Wang Zi was not given any chance to persuade his headstrong boss.

Back in the rear seat of the car was Jiro's latest design of that jewellery necklace-pendant worth thousands of millions carefully placed inside a metal case, which he decided to bring home just to be safe. Encountering an intruder back in the secret jewellery room without being able to trace her mysterious route of entry forced him to resort to this precaution. He could not risk letting another party uncover the whereabouts of this precious item.

Yet, through the windshield before him, he spotted the girl again, getting off the bus infront. It got him wondering curiously why she would still be loitering around.

Rainie slumped back weakly onto the bench, devoid of all hope. Her mind was all blank and heart empty, with no reason to expect any kind soul would rescue her out of a mental and emotional turmoil she was being dragged into.

The bus left and Jiro slowly attempted to pull his vehicle closer to the stop by the curb. By now, Rainie was on the close verge of breaking down in tears.

He paused to set his mind clear on what to do next. If she had harboured the intention of stealing away the jewel, would she be left by the street with no means to pay for an inexpensive trip back home? Jiro figured that the matter was not as straightforward as it apparently seemed.

Rainie buried her face, now red and streaming with tears in her arms, imagining her world to be crumpling down helplessly like a collapsing tower. It hurt her so deeply from the inside out.

Jiro unbuckled his seatbelt and reached across to wind down the car window. He called out, "Let me take you..."

She sniffed hard and after half a minute, recognised the calming voice. Lifting her head once more, she saw him, gazing thoughtfully back at her. What kind of unsettled reaction should she give?


	7. Chapter 7: Attention

"Have we reached your place?" He asked with a tinge of uneasiness and stiffness after merely following Rainie's brief instructions uttered at the start of the ride.

Silence followed his unfeeling question. With an impatient sigh, he pulled over to a side curb before reluctantly turning to face her.

She was not affected by his cold attitude in the least, for the sight of her resting undisturbed troubled him on how he should wake her from the long journey's sleep. Then, he was even more concerned about the precious article inside the case still sitting untouched at a dangerously close proximity right behind them.

"Excuse me?" he urged softly.

Him being all the more wary, it was not until a full minute interval later that she finally stirred a bit, turning slightly over away from her face towards the window so that Jiro could have a clearer view of her intensely flushed appearance.

It alarmed him that he quickly felt her forehead and burning cheeks. Rainie has yet to display any conscious awareness. With a speedy instinct, he immediately released the handbrake, turned back into the fast lane and stepped on the accelerator to rush her to the hospital without delay.

Meanwhile, in a quiet cafe, Gui Gui set down the disappointing test paper with a pout and began to wonder as she sipped slowly on her iced lemonade. She knew that she ought to feel guilty for pushing Rainie to stand in for her. Thus, even though it was only a 'just passed' score, she deeply wanted to repay her kindness. The thought of parting heartlessly with her right after getting her test results only caused Gui Gui to be extremely disgusted with her own selfish response. Flicking the straw, she dug out her cellphone to give Rainie a call.


	8. Chapter 8: Clarity

As she regained consciousness, the bright lights of the hospital room hurt her eyes upon opening them. She rubbed intensely to gain normal clarity of vision. Carefully sitting upright, her glance inevitably fell on a still-stranger companion resting possibly asleep on the side of the bed where she lay. Though not directly facing her, his familiar neatly-brushed fringes easily caused her to recall their incomprehensible encounter earlier on. She gently massaged her head in a unprofessional way, now feeling much less heavy and painful. Looking about, her mind worked fast after a long needed rest to figure out why she has been sent her in the first place.

Then, her gaze trailed down to the clueless guy dozed off comfortably in his seat. She could not decide whether to wake him up, for inner reminder of their day's misunderstanding daunted her to fret about his immediate response to her initial recovery. She lightly pulled away the covers to check her wristwatch. It showed 9 o'clock in the evening. Rainie gasped upon realisation.

Her instinctive reaction earned a slight stir from Jiro. She held her breath hard with a rapidly beating heart overtaken by fear.

"Oh, here you are, Rainie! Finally, you're all well!" A cheery sing-song voice came resounding in with audible footsteps.

Rainie stared at her wide-eyed as this time, Jiro was really abruptly awaken at last.

A little blurred, he generously got up from his seat despite the awkwardness while momentarily locking gaze with the startled Rainie. He went out of the way to let the nurse attend to her.

After checking conditions like body temperature, blood pressure, blood sugar level, her complexion, and others, the nurse elatedly declared, "Perfectly normal! It's just high fever, heat stroke and panic attacks which brought you into this emergency...Now, tell me honestly how are you feeling?"

Rainie was quite uneasy with him around listening to their conversation, so softly answered, "I don't have anymore headache and can breathe smoothly..."

"Huh?" She was slow in catching her words at first but soon understood. Then, turning to Jiro, and then back to Rainie's reddenning expression, she broke into a high-pitched laugh.

"Oh, how sweet were you both when your boyfriend carried you all the way into this ward few hours ago...And, you were grabbing so tightly onto his broad strong chest and sweaty shirt...Ah, I am so touched upon seeing you pair of loving couple," the nurse turned exaggeratedly dreamy as she described the moment.

Rainie gaped in astonishment and shook her head to clear things up, yet she became all too tongue-tied. Jiro also was taken aback and stepped forward to utter on her behalf, "Ermm...excuse me, but I think you have got the wrong..."

The excited nurse simply dismissed, "I know Rainie all too well that you must be her first love...Just see the innocent look in both of your eyes...Even my heart seems to be fluttering now...Okay, okay...I don't want to waste your private time together...Rainie, and you gentleman, may leave now that she's in a good shape...I'll sign you out...Wish you both happiness always!" She then bade with a wide smile and paced out of the room as quickly as she just appeared, leaving Rainie and Jiro extremely embarrassed.

Icy silence followed, as though they both were searching for the right move to make the next second. Still on the bed, Rainie did her best to avoid eye contact with him, took a long stretch of deep breath and threw away the covers, leaping down and fumbled for her shoes.

Watching on stiffly at her haste, Jiro resorted to approach her and effortlessly pick up her pair of sandals near the chair on the other side of the bed and offered them to her.

Not daring to look up at him, she spoke shyly, "Thank you..."

Observing her with bemusement, a subtle smile crept up on his now relaxed face, "Am I that intimidating?"

His question naturally dissipated Rainie's unpleasant emotions. Having worn her shoes, she mastered the courage to meet straight his gaze, indeed not so pressurising anymore as the first time.

He cocked his head in the direction of the door, "Let's go!"

It was as if all burdens were lifted off her weak shoulders. She suppressed a quiet chuckle and followed him out in relief.

Walking out of the hospital, the sky had grown dark. They both stopped in their track and simultaneously were wondering how to get home.

Turning to face each other at the same time, they spoke up together.

"Can I...?"

"Do you...?"

Rainie and him looked away indecisively. Following, she suggested, "You can say first..."

Seeing her so reserved, he inquired, "You don't have any way to get home, do you?"

Only then, it dawned on her that she did not have a single change with her. She lost all belongings.

The alarmed look on her face answered it all. He scanned around before adding, "For some reason, I had my assistant drove away my car and I don't like to trouble him again at this hour..."

She considered and then brought up, "Why not, I just would like to ask for your help in lending me not a big amount and we can take the bus..."

"The bus?" he repeated in surprise.

Rainie smiled and nodded confidently. She pointed over to a bus-stop nearby the road entrance to him.

He noted, "Oh, it's that convenient?"

She assured him and led the way.

It was an interesting experience for Rainie to teach him how to board the bus and insert those coin payments. Moreover, due to the late night, they both easily found priceless window seats.


	9. Chapter 9: Resolution

Catching the sight of her on the front steps of her home, Rainie quickly nudged the sleeping girl, "Gui Gui, wake up...What brought you her at this hour?"

Being shook out of her slumber, she lazily rubbed her eyes clear as Rainie stooped down to behold her with concern and grabbed the girl's pair of cold hands to warm them.

Now fully recovering her awareness, Gui Gui managed an assured smile, "Rainie, glad you're back..."

Her pair of thin eyebrows creased in confusion, "Gui! How long have you been waiting here? I know it's summer, but night time is a definite no no for staying outdoors!"

Simply staring back at her, Gui Gui was silently thoughtful for a brief moment. Her passive reaction only worried Rainie all the more as she made her get up and unlocking the door, attempted to drag her fast into the house.

At the speediest pace, Rainie prepared for them both steaming hot chocolate in less than 2 minutes to offer one of them to Gui Gui, earning a touching smile of thanks to the caring girl.

"You're welcome," she expressed flatly. "And now, tell me what problem have you to share with me? Is it because of the CPR test grade?"

Gui Gui's eyes widen and set down the drink on the coffee table right away to explain, "No, Rainie...I have come to let you know of a very important decision..."

Rainie immediately turned curious, "Huh? You sound so serious...What's the matter? Are you feeling well?"

The unusually calm girl eagerly nodded to dismiss Rainie's doubts. She then resolutely cleared her throat and declared, "Actually, from this moment onwards, I don't need you to strive so hard in being my substitute anymore, attending classes and taking examinations in my place..."

Rainie was dumbfounded, too taken aback to utter any word.

As for Gui Gui, she reached over to a huge bag beside the sofa that she had brought along. Offering it back to Rainie, she gratefully added, "Thank you for all these disguise gear you had let me use for so long...Now, I am returning them to you...Rainie, I owe everything to you..."

It was difficult for Rainie to imagine, since Gui Gui wanted so much to be a nursing graduate. She took her hand in hers, "Gui Gui, am I hearing things? We're almost near to finishing all requirements...And, it's been two years..."

Gui Gui shook her head, "Rainie, this is being extremely unfair to you...I want to devote most of my time to work, yet did not put in any effort for my studies...You even need to take care of my ailing grandmother in the hospital every now and then..."

Rainie felt her words so deeply that tears nearly welled up in her eyes. Pressing Gui Gui's hand, she asked emotionally, "But, don't you think it's very troublesome to give up now?"

She denied, "Don't worry, I have my way of sorting this out...Trust me and wait for my text tomorrow, okay?"

Rainie still could not readily surrender her cares, "Gui, are you sure this is gonna work?"

She pouted and waved a finger at her, "Come on, that's why I requested for you to have confidence in me this time...Things will go on smoothly...However, I must demand for a clarification from you this time, where have you been more than half the day? I called your cell so many times and it's your new manager who answered...Worst still, he told me you'd gone missing! Are you alright, Rainie? Just what had gone wrong?"

She faced her with a defeated look, "Err...Well, I am not sure what's the right word to describe...I was really scared out of my wits...It's frighteningly 'spooky'..."

Gui Gui was overly puzzled.


	10. Chapter 10: Dire Search

"Hey, sleepyhead...Always slacking around in my home..." Jiro patted his sworn pal awake upon catching him lying on the sofa in his living room, snoozing his way to dreamland.

He grimaced and scratched his head, mastering all efforts to sit up, although still immensely groggy striving hard to open his pair of heavy eyes.

Observing him, Jiro sighed in exasperation, "Prince...What I have ordered you to do, did you carry out with trustful responsibility?"

He massaged his temple lightly, "Why don't you turn on the lights? It's so terribly gloomy in here..."

His complaint made Jiro effortlessly grabbed a mini torch from under the coffee table and turned it on to flash it directly on Wang Zi's face. "There, is this bright enough? Now, can I have your answer?"

Wang Zi jolted back from the blinding light and quickly switched it off, "Oh, okay...sorry...Mister Jiro...I got it...Your precious love is right infront of the safe..."

Jiro only displayed the deepest frown in response to his insensible statement. He turned him anxiously to face himself, "Wait a sec, 'infront of the safe'? Not securely locked up inside?!"

Wang Zi sweatdropped as he stared back hard at the extremely serious Jiro. He clarified without delay, "Oh please...don't be so perturbed! I really can't find the keys to your safe and in your haste, you did not reveal to me your lock combination...Plus, your cell was turned off throughout the whole time...Now, Mister Wang...am I being not responsible?"

Jiro loosen his grip on Wang Zi's shoulders and tried to recall. Being in the hospital ward for that long, he could not turn on his phone.

After briefly contemplating, he immediately paced fast to his walk-in closet to check on his 'Heart-Throb' in order to be excessively certain that it was alright.

Right behind him, Wang Zi was starting to reconsolidate his doubts since early that day due to Jiro's sudden change in strategy.

Ensuring that his masterpiece was well intact, Jiro could heave a sigh of sure relief. He covered the case up again and diligently searched every nook and cranny for his valuable keys.

Wang Zi was rather hesitant if he should lend a hand, "Say, Jiro...when I approached our building secret passage and hidden room, the door was left open...Were you in there then?"

He paused momentarily and turned to Wang Zi. Their exchange of icy silent glances was a heartfelt mix of compromise and disinclination.

The outcome was just a simple, unexplained shrug by Jiro. He let on, "This is not a right time to discuss the matter..."

Wang Zi found it hard to buy his words, "Why not?"

Jiro swiftly walked up to him, "Let's deal with it later...Right now, what's important is to store Heart-Throb in a most safest corner. The safe's originally my parents' and they are now overseas...I should have been mentally prepared for this beforehand...Now, what shall we do?"

They both literally racked their brains for the most suitable cover, going from bathrooms to the laundry to the study room and den.

Rushing to and fro about the whole house, the trailing Wang Zi sharply spotted a thing slipped off Jiro's pants pocket. He was agile enough to catch hold of it to figure what it really was.

"What? An off-peak hours' bus fare?" He spoke out loud, alerting Jiro to turn back while holding on awfully tightly to his hefty case of jewellery.

Wang Zi held it up questioningly, "I thought you called the cab...This is totally unlike you, Young Master?"

He was somewhat lost as to how to clear things up, "Well, save that for next time...We need to complete our task at hand first..."

His buddy was now even more suspicious, advancing slowly up to him with a smug disbelieving look and flashing the piece of ticket in his hand with a sly smile.

Jiro retreated cautiously while struggling not to let his expression betrayed anything. At long last, he stopped and exclaimed, "Ah, I know! I'll put this darling into the most useless thing in the home!"

Wang Zi instinctively stepped back, "What's that?"

He grinned and beckoned to the kitchen area, "The dishwasher..."


	11. Chapter 11: Verdict

The next day, Rainie received Gui Gui's text as promised. Fortunately, she was able to have much needed rest the night before after a nightmarish day and meantime no more that of bizarre dreams.

She showed up at the nursing college but her best friend was no where to be seen. Equally as nervous but without a clear idea of Gui Gui's plan, she waited expectantly.

"Rainie Yang...?" She heard a low middle-aged male's voice called out from behind.

She spun around to respond and ended up recognising the face of the dean. "Yes,...Good Morning, Mr Song..."

He displayed a slight smile and bow before ushering her into his office.

From the moment Rainie stepped in until even after she was seated, her heart was racing and thumping like crazy. The dean quietly took out some documents and went over them rather thoroughly with her looking on harbouring tense hard-pressed emotions.

When he finally lifted his gaze at her, Rainie forced herself to put on a calm demeanour and be as much attentive and alert as possible.

He started his straightforward discussion with her despite catching that she was immensely worried.

After listening and fully comprehending his verdict on her and Gui Gui's identity switch in the college, she almost could not believe her ears.

"Retaining my spot as an rightfully admitted student in this school?" Her jawdropped.

He offered an assuring smile and nodded to affirm.

Rainie's mind went wild as she attempted to digest in the dean's seemingly exaggerated extension of unmerited privilege for her. He even generously went an extra mile to keep record of all her previously-attended courses with her achieved grades intact.

Rainie gaped and leaned back against the leather chair to consider the reality of such luck. This was too unreasonably good to be true.


	12. Chapter 12: Reflection

"Thanks, don't worry just keep the change," he expressed after getting hold of his hot cup of espresso from the server and headed out of the coffee shop.

Walking out into the open sunshine, Jiro could not resist coming back into this warm familiar place. It was the unforgettable park too impossible to be detached from his nostalgic mood. As he approached its surroundings, his recall was inescapably drawn towards the availability of a plentiful persistent reminders all around him...

Flashback...

Rainie was still blurred, "Huh? Wait, I really don't know how I ended here..."

He was not going to take her words lightly but did cut her off before giving a chance to finish, "Now, there can be many reasons why...But I got to tell you, 'Heartbeat' has yet to be unveiled to the public and we're not supposed to leak out any detail yet..."

She only looked at him with creased eyebrows and deeply earnest gaze as he said so. Aside from not making out what exactly he was trying to tell her, she was starting to get convinced that he would not possibly believe her end of the story.

Momentarily, his tone somewhat softened, at least according to what Rainie felt. He then questioned, "Are you a nursing college student?"

Rainie was taken aback, "Nursing college? Me?"

The minute followed turned indecisive. Jiro waited expectantly for her answer. Seeing her obviously struggling within, he wondered what caused her to be so irresolute. He was fully certain that they had been together at the park outside that college earlier on.

Further flashback...

Moaning over a strange premonition it caused, she repeated absent-mindedly, "Every beat of my heart speaks of you eternally..."

"Heartbeat?" he thought in response after overhearing a weird self conversation by a girl coming from behind him. He was seated right on another bench fixed back to back with Rainie's one. Deeply contemplating further, he finally reached a decision over a good name to pick. Adjusting his shades and cap a little, he then got up and left the spot.

...

"No, I am not one...I have never been there," Rainie let out at last.

Beyond all doubt, Jiro knew that she was lying. He was utterly disappointed and took a step backwards from her, "I wonder if stalking somebody is a nice game to play with. Anyway, I really hope to not see you showing up again in this place. Then, I can pretend that we have never bumped into each other at all so that unnecessary lawsuit matters will not result." Turning about, he walked away from her and entered back into the building.

Present...

Adjusting his shades, then taking a sip of his steaming coffee afterwards, he stared up at the bright blue and white summer sky and livening sun's glare.

He sighed and could not help his thoughts being especially repetitive this day. Figuring he might as well checked his cell for an easy distraction, he discovered his online survey had earned over a million hits. A hideous smile of contentment crept on his once sober face.

Unawarely, he ended up coming to that same old bench. Pausing to sort out his messy contemplations, he then simply shrugged and sat back on it.

There were not many passers-by, which made him glad that this place preserved its former serenity. Slow-paced and undisturbed, it was like a foretaste of heavenly realm.

Fresh breeze aided in lightening his mental load with further soulful inspiration by the faint whiff of tempting sweet smell of those captivating flowers close by.

A stark contrast from the chaotic yesterday, he enjoyed the combination of nature and man-made beauty. Yet, before long, he suddenly felt something nibbling the hard toe-cap of his shoe.

Looking down, it was just a stray little adorable puppy.

Jiro lunged forward to ruffle his clean white fur, "You would be much better off if you immigrated...and not wandering aimlessly without someone's care..."

It gazed up at him with huge round innocent pair of eyes, as if anticipating more life-saving fondness from him.

Jiro smiled and felt his cute standing ears affectionately. He then decided and got up to cue it in following after his footsteps, "Come, let's go and buy you a sumptuous breakfast!"


	13. Chapter 13: Affinity

Pacing hastily out of the college, Rainie kept calling Gui Gui continuously. Despite her not answering any of them, she got to receive a text message informing to meet up together at her new workplace later in the day.

Sighing in heavy frustration, she trotted on indecisively. Reaching a bench, she slumped down in a flustered state, unable to discern with certainty the underlying motives of the dean's flattery and sharply-spoken words.

Without a second thought, she grabbed hold of a drink sitting still right by her side and blankly attempted to draw it near for a fiesty gulp.

An abrupt bout of strong sneeze stopped her in time. She set down the hot coffee and got out her pack of tissue.

"Oh, what's gotten to this day? It's like a 180 degrees change," she mumbled unintelligibly. Turning back to the cup of beverage destined to give her a modest company at this hour, she sighed again upon figuring she had mistaken it as her own.

Shortly, she realised and recognised, "Hey, another litter loitering around here today! Who's that irrespectful fellow again?"

As for Rainie, she simply shook her head miserably to fend off all troubling possibilities. The sound of an incoming text message on her phone reminded her that it was time to start her new shift. She stood up, turned around and inevitably spotted a cup of empty drink lying on the bench across from where she had been sitting on.

"Oh, it's only luck that you managed to escape a fine!" she muttered under her breath.

End of flashback...

Rainie held it up to her eye-level and peered upclose at its store logo, "Ha! I'll remember you, better watch out!" She took out her cellphone and took a focused snap of it with a fast click.

Getting up, she prepared to dump into the trashbin less than three steps away when her responsible act was stopped suddenly.

"No, wait!" The cry from behind was rather strangely acquainted to her ears.

Turning around, she thought that she could have seen this person before. Walking straight up to him, she wondered if she should give him a much-needed lecture concerning dutiful observance of public cleanliness.

A soft bark from a little comely creature down by his feet earned a startled jolt backwards from Rainie upon nearing them both.

Acknowledging it with awkwardness and then staring back up at him with one hand holding onto a half-opened wrap of meaty sandwich, she was still apparently dumbfounded and confused.

Her muddled expression bemused him. He gave a light smile and pointed out, "Thanks for not destroying my drink...I just went to get this attractive perky pup his long-awaited breakfast of the day..."

Rainie turned sheepish as she surrendered the drink, "Oh, you're welcome...Back to you..." Looking uneasily to the side, she cursed herself silently for not making out his identity with his troublesome dark shades on.

"We seem to have some kind of affinity," he remarked with interest.

Rainie only reacted with a deep frown as she faced him again. Shaking her head, she poutingly dismissed, "Hey, this is the first time we met...Hi, nice talking to you...My name is Gui Gui..."

Offering her hand to him, Jiro was even more perplexed. Not getting any sense out of her baffling introduction, he advanced forward to her, lessening their distance apart.

Rainie's eyes widened as her feet froze in desperate unreadiness, with the light feel of his breath just inches before her.

Seconds ticked away along with each of her racing heartbeat, until he stepped aside and dug out his cellphone.

Accurately positioning it directly in front of her, he very promptly took a picture of her abashed expression.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Rainie regained her usual goofy demeanour and tried to snatch his phone from grasp.

He ducked effortlessly from her rough charge at his gadget and waved the screen of his phone before her face, "Don't you recognise yourself?...I don't see why I need to be cheated by you another time..."

She gasped miserably as it dawned on her that she had forgotten she was no longer under the disguise of fake Gui Gui's appearance.


	14. Chapter 14: Defence

Rainie waved to capture Gui Gui's attention as the latter finally arrived by that quaint mirror shop. The rushing girl quickly joined her in front of the door.

Rainie has deep concern etched on her pensive-looking face, "Gui, are you sure you're able to help me? This is like an horrifying landmine territory for me..."

Gui Gui did her best to assure her, taking Rainie's hand and then fishing out something from her backpack, "Trust me, I wracked my brain the whole day and morning to come up with this momentary solution..."

"Huh?" she wondered with doubt.

Gui Gui then placed it firmly onto her palm, "There, with me around and this tentative protection, I will guide you all the way..."

"Ah," Rainie have a close glance at it and then turned to Gui Gui questioningly. "Sunglasses?"

The earnest girl smiled complacently, "Yes, let me help you wear it now...Then, just in case it's too unbearable for you, shut your eyes and imagine yourself somewhere in outerspace, out of this torturing world...Just hang on tight onto my arm and breathe deeply to relax, okay?"

Now having on the pair of dark spectacles, Rainie tried to calm herself and offered her dependance on Gui Gui's ushering them both cautiously into the shop.

Upon stepping in, Rainie's heart instinctively began to race, thumping wildly that she imagined it to be loudly audible. She held her breath and clutched sweatily onto her throbbing chest.

"Don't worry, Rainie...Trust me..." Only Gui Gui's gentle voice served as a defence against her panicky symptoms.

Despite the overwhelming emotional tension, she recalled...

From where she was, Rainie could easily observe the apparent impatience written across the customer's face. She quickened her pace, gasping for breath due to the heavy weight of the mirror.

Yet, it was only inevitable that her gaze fell on the numerous mirrors placed along the way. Heart throbbing at accelerating rate, Rainie was starting to feel giddy with each passing second. Her weak hands also experienced a spread of numbness. In the end, the object fell from her grasp as she kicked hard against the edge of an obstructing mirror on display.

Her head spinning uncontrollably, everything appeared to black out and the sound of shattering glass was all she heard off before losing her footing.

Coming to the door at the end of a hidden hallway, Jiro slipped in one of the keys in his hand to unlock it.

She seemed to feel that once familiar spell of blinding light at first enveloping her being and afterwards, slowly leaving her senses. It soon gave way to surrounding darkness as she became alert again and opened her eyes. As expected, nothing could be seen without a single trace of light in the place. Yet, she was sure that her heart was still beating and there was life energy in her body.

He opened the door and stepped in. Light finally seeped into the area. However, what met his eyes and teeming expectations made him wonder curiously.

Rainie turned about, at last realising that she was crouched down on the floor. The room she found herself in was wide empty and spacious. Then, she squinted her eyes to make out more clearly if there was a figure of a person approaching carefully towards her. She got up.

Due to the weak intensity of the available rays streaming from the dimly-lit hallway outside, Jiro stopped in his track. At this point in time, he was half-convinced that there was another person aside from himself inside this well-secluded room. He fingered his keys and pointed a small remote attached to them in the direction of a sensor affixed onto the wall behind him. It succeeded in switching on the lights.

Once all bright and clear, Rainie winced from the strong glare suddenly cast on her.

"How did you get in here?" he was overly startled and questioned with detectable suspicion.

She lifted her hand to her face, trying to shield her eyes from the sudden light. "I was," she stuttered innocently. "I...really...have no idea..."

Present...

She squinted her eyes open a little...

"Rainie, you did it!" Gui Gui's overjoyed cry alerted her back to current safe environment.

"Oh," she took off her glasses to behold a puzzled expression on her manager Lee's face. Her following reaction was to observe around, heaving considerable relief.

Manager Lee purposefully cleared his throat and inquired awkwardly, "Err...excuse me...but this young lady beside you here...Why did you draw all the blinds of my modest office space?"

Rainie turned to Gui Gui, "You?"

She patted her back assuringly and then folding her arms, faced the manager with a sharp intimidating gaze, "Hey, you...Didn't Rainie say that she has a phobia of mirrors? Yet, you forced her to work in this kind of a grossly dreadful abusive zone! Just what are you thinking of? Don't you think we could even sue you for her emotional and mental distress? Her hospital stay bill will be arriving soon..."

He was indeed taken aback by her. After returning them with wordless response, he then took out a box full of stuff from under his desk and set it down before their curious eyes. He explained innocently, "So sorry, I know yesterday's been weird with Rainie gone missing, but I can't have any control over this arrangement. I have just been fired by the HR department and no longer a legitimate staff of Infinity Co. Ltd. I...I...can't be responsible for any of your losses..."

"What?" The two girls were immensely shocked.

He got up from his seat and shrugged regretfully, "Sorry again, but as for Rainie,...she's indeed now my replacement from this second onwards..." He flashed his wristwatch at them.

Gui Gui and Rainie jawdropped with unbelief.

Manager Lee handed back to Rainie her belongings from a locked drawer and lifted up close to himself that box of an array of things which were his own before bidding timidly. "I apologise again, but Rainie, be brave...have faith that you can overcome it all...Now, I gotta go...So long to you too, Rainie's friend!"

Left to themselves, Gui Gui and Rainie simply could not stand all these unreasonable transition. As Gui Gui hurriedly closed the door tight, Rainie felt giddy again and flopped heavily onto the office chair by the desk.

Leaning back wearily and rubbing her temples, she was reminded, "That night, my mother went to the hospital to look after my dad overnight, leaving me alone in the house with a whole lot of mess...In tidying things up, a careless attempt at meddling with her handmirror on my mom's dressing table...Then, it fell off my loose grasp in ear-piercing shattering pieces on the floor..."

Gui Gui was deterred by her painful memory, and got down by her side, taking her hand to console.

She was now teary, "Unaware at the first instant, a cruel razor-sharp cut and the blood oozed endlessly like a continuous stream..."

Gui Gui dismissed strongly, "It's all because of the time - at 12 midnight...But I came from nextdoor to your rescue in time...It did stop, Rainie...it did...It is all over now..."

Rainie wiped her reddened eyes dry and fell feebly into her best pal's comforting embrace.


	15. Chapter 15: Keepsake

Back at the office, Jiro looked over thoroughly the many responses to his online survey at his computer. His most trusted assistant, Wang Zi, was seated right opposite him studying every once in a while his unpredictable senior's engrossed attitude.

After a long half an hour of silent mode, Jiro gave in and shook his head in dire disappointment. After one last click on the mouse, he leaned back and was abruptly startled by Wang Zi facing directly at him with scrutinizing eyes.

He offered a sneaky smile, "Why fret? None of them appealed to your expectation?"

Jiro simply looked away from him and dismissed, "Ah no...They're all fine, except that..."

Wang Zi turned the monitor over to his eyeshot to figure out, "Except that all these girls possess shallow thinking, shallow personality, guessable opinions, uninteresting ambitions,...what else did I miss?"

Jiro sighed, "Prince! I will take care of this matter from this second onwards..." He then pulled out his keys and hurled them fast at him.

Wang Zi was swift enough to catch hold of them, "Hey, whatever these for?"

He sat upright again and closed the browser window before ordering, "Now, your duty is to head back to my home to closely guard 'Heart-Throb' and make sure that it's still safe until I manage to get in touch with my parents once again..."

Wang Zi was dumbfounded, "Wh-...what? Now? It's broad daylight...and I still have to arrange your meeting with one of our jewels' raw material leading supplier cum sponsor, Mr Shaw!"

Jiro only waved a finger nonchalantly at him, "No protest please...I'll offer you salary increment in a week's time...So stay there until I return this evening..."

Wang Zi was still overly reluctant, "But...but...you should hire a security instead!"

Jiro cleverly grabbed the helpless guy's planner left on the table and flipped it open, "Hmmm...let's see...Mr Shaw..."

It was apparent that he would be unsuccessful in changing Jiro's decision, plus all those prying personal questions about him which he prepared since the weird night before would likely not be answered at all.

He relented, "You're so bossy..."

"Who's the one?" Jiro retorted as his lifted his gaze off the planner.

Wang Zi was soft enough not to verbally contend further. Shrugging listlessly and turning about, he instinctively caught an empty cup lying on the edge of the desk and was about to dump it into the bin.

"Wait, hold it!" Jiro exclaimed to his astonishment.

The cup was saved on time but earned Wang Zi's deeply confused look. He peered intently at the coffee image on the thing still in his hand, "Ex-press...Re-flections...Cafe..."

Jiro displayed an awkward expression and a fleeting tinge of bashfulness on his face was unable to escape Wang Zi's sensitive regard for his good old friend's current emotional state.


	16. Chapter 16: Express Service

Wang Zi tilted his shades a little as he neared the coffee shop's entrance, "Hmmm...Ex-press Re-flections Cafe...Nice..."

He went forth and pushed opened the door to enter inside. Then, glancing around the modest easy-on-the-eyes interior, a subtle smile crept onto his boyish face. He decided to switch off his cell just so to clear his earshot of nagging reminder calls from Jiro.

There were not many customers around so relaxing quietness was maintained, except for the chatter-banter of those few cafe staff behind the counter at the rear area.

Turning to their direction, Wang Zi was rather intrigued, "Isn't she?"

It took barely two seconds before he recalled explicitly one of the counter attendants who especially stood out from the rest.

He paced over to her and the moment they locked gaze, his memory offered the necessary confirmation. He snapped his fingers, to her surprise, "Qiao Qiao...Joanne Ceng!"

She had on both curious and questioning look at first, but soon recognised him sharply, "Senior Qiu Sheng Yi! What fate?"

He smiled with amusement, "Destined, I suppose..."

She laughed with pleasure, "Oh, you're still the same...We haven't met since graduation...So how have you been doing?"

Posed with such question, Wang Zi grew sheepish and scratched his head, hoping to avoid answering. Yet, with her undeniable expression of interest, he gave in, "Well, just a humble assistant to another senior..."

She did not show the slightest sign of cockiness, only encouraged, "Hey, look at me...I am also just a lowly cashier...What's there to be disheartened about?"

Wang Zi was touched in a heart-warming way, "Thanks,..."

She smiled again and offered, "Want a drink? Let's make the bill on me!"

He chuckled, "Oh, Qiao Qiao...How can I let a girl pay for me?" Shaking his head, he looked up at the beverage menu.

Qiao Qiao waited patiently but was prepared to not charge him any amount. However, a co-worker sought her help after receiving a call.

"Delivery? But we don't provide this service today..." She advised and Wang Zi was close enough to overhear their conversation.

The co-worker told that the customer who called insisted tough on delivery, making the situation more difficult for Qiao Qiao.

Wang Zi considered their dilemma and volunteered, "I am really free for the rest of the day...let me deliver for you..."

"Huh?" They both responded in unison.

He assured, "Don't worry, I won't need any compensation...just purely wanted to help my good friend here, Qiao Qiao...And, will guarantee that I will complete the job nicely and perfectly as required. Promise!"

Qiao Qiao turned to her co-worker, "I guess we don't have an alternative...?"


	17. Chapter 17: Unintentional

Gui Gui draped a coat over Rainie as the latter fell asleep resting by the table. Seeing her best pal this much exhausted also caused herself to be overly concerned. Checking the time, she was quite agitated and headed over to the door.

"Watch out!" A guy's cry from the doorway resounded as she turned the knob but her deep inner thoughts clouded her sense of hearing and she simply pushed open the door since Rainie was still in her slumber.

Her impulsive action resulted in a loud fall and splash onto the tiled floor.

"Oh, ouch..." She moaned in pain upon bracing the impact of knocking onto some person and the burning sensation on her palms.

"My gosh...What's with this day?" A boyish voice alerted her further and she opened her eyes wide.

The outcome was an extremely upclose locking of gaze with a pair of equally earnest-looking eyes and time appeared to stand still as they blinked at each other simultaneously.

"Aahhh!" Gui Gui immediately forced herself back up on her feet once more, puzzling even more the confused delivery guy.

Getting a clearer sense of reality in a flash, Gui Gui stared at her pair of hot red scalded palms in shock and grimaced in intense pain.

Wang Zi also quickly got up and noticed the spilled coffee drinks on the floor. Alarmed, he reached out to her hands but Gui Gui only wailed in greater distress.

He turned to her with undue worry, "Do you have a washroom?"

Tears overflowed from her eyes as her mind ran blank and she stammered, "Huh? I...I...don't...k-now..."

He scanned around and saw the rear hallway, "Must be there!"

Leading her fast into it, he quickly turned on the faucet and let the cooler water soothed her pain temporarily as well as to modestly calm Gui Gui down.

"How do you feel now?" he questioned after about a half hour later.

She sobbed hard and nodded, "Do we need an ice pack?"

He offered a brief glance at her before refusing, "No, that can burn your palms even more...Now, do you have any clean cling film or plastic bag or any comfortable cloth?"

Gui Gui only stared at him for some time before realising, "Oh, I..." Speeding her mind to work again, she told him to get a cloth from a cabinet.

He nodded, "Okay, I'll just wet it with cold water and then cover your wounds...but we can't wrap it tight...This oughta prevent irritation and infection..."

Gui Gui could not believe he knew so much, "Thank you..."

He looked up at her, "No, I am the reason for your hurt...I don't accept your gratitude..."

She was somewhat amazed by his refusal and a subtle smile spread onto her delicate face, now her pain seemingly all forgotten.

Her quiet reaction earned his dashing smile of relief and he decided, "I'll take you to a nearby clinic..."

Gui Gui was abruptly reminded, "Now? Oh, but wait..."

They heard footsteps approaching and a voice called out, "Gui, where are you?"

"Rainie?" She answered and was momentarily disturbed that the girl might get panicked by the mirrors outside the office.


	18. Chapter 18: Destined

Stopping before Jiro's home, Wang Zi paused for a moment of half regretful reflection. Before the gate, he could already spot Jiro's car parked inside the garage further down.

He sighed heavily and could not decide whether to punch in the code for entry. Ended up pacing back and forth with head hung low in disheartenment, he considered what kind of apology and explanation to offer his senior.

Walking over to the balcony, Jiro saw the most uncertain figure he anticipated since getting off work. Watching on for at least two full minutes, he shook his head in disappointment and could not resist pressing on the button to automatically open the gate for him.

Wang Zi was momentarily startled out of his thoughts as the path before him laid unobstructed all of a sudden. Instinctively gazing upwards, he caught sight of Jiro just turning about to leave the balcony.

He was immediately relieved with gratefulness and rushed into the house.

"So, how had your whole afternoon been? Enjoyable?" Jiro's sarcastic opening queries right after opening the front door to welcome his junior with an even more gravely serious look struck Wang Zi with sharp pangs of guilt.

He stared at him tongue-tied for a while before stammering weakly, "Well, I...I...was...just..."

Jiro waited with intimidating patience but Wang Zi still could not bring himself to successfully express an acceptable excuse.

He was prepared to explode any second had it not been a meek intervention by a comely creature snuck into the modest gap of space just in between the two's feet.

Wang Zi glanced down perplexed, "Huh? I don't remember you stepping into a pet shop before?"

Jiro too beheld its endearing moves, which worked miraculously in dissipating his indignation. A fond smile spread across his handsome face and this calmed Wang Zi's anxiety immensely. Thus, he attempted to manipulate this opportunity into full use for the current pressing situation.

Stooping down to pick up the charming stray puppy, he stroke it, cuddled it, hugged it, coaxed it while bestowing the greatest amount of noticeable affection in front of its loving new owner.

"Oh, how cute..." Wang Zi continued to act clever as he witnessed Jiro's drastic change in mood.

He switched glance from the innocent harmless being to this motive-driven junior, "I know you won't be able to come up with any reasonable excuse...and you're lucky that 'Heart-Throb''s still safe and secure in this home...But, if you repeat this mistake again, you should know what a strict and unrelenting boss I am..."

Wang Zi's face fell almost instantly and the puppy leapt out of his arms.

"Oh, senior, you really won't believe this..." He tried to talk him into being more understanding but Jiro only went straight over to the kitchen to grab some stuff.

As for the new member of the household, it made its way to the coffee table, sniffing energetically at Jiro's cellphone on its edge.

Trailing after his indifferent boss who only pretended to ignore his repetitive apologies but attentively involved in preparing the best dinner of the night for him and his newfound precious pet, Wang Zi gave in at long last and dragged himself wearily to the living room.

Flopping down onto the sofa like a defeated war-man, he stared hopelessly at the earnestly busy pup messing curiously with Jiro's phone.

"If only I were you...," he mumbled in a daze.

One careless push and within a millisecond, Wang Zi was spontaneously alerted to grasp hold of the falling phone firmly onto his hand.

A chance look at the phone displaying a suspicious picture left him speculating like crazy.

Following, Jiro came in with both hands full of sumptuous entrees. Seeing Wang Zi so engrossed and the cellphone in his hand, he quickly set down the food and snatched his stuff away.

"Mr Prince! Don't you have a sense of respect for people's privacy?" He fumed.

Wang Zi almost could not believe, "But...but...Senior! I just met that troubled girl in the photo earlier...You have to trust me this time!"

He was astounded and waved his cell before the pleading Wang Zi, "Her? Seriously, where? A nursing college?"

Wang Zi snapped with confidence regained, "No! A weird store!" He then added quietly in his thoughts, "Where I saved a lovely damsel in distress..."


	19. Chapter 19: Visit

He stopped before this store and studied intently for a moment the sign above bearing its name. Slipping the small piece of note written by Wang Zi the night before into his pocket, he was able to observe the lights on the ceiling inside strongly showing through the half-transparent shop window.

Staring back at the door infront of his eyes, he suddenly flashed back to the point in time the night before when he decided resolutely to come by at this hour even before rushing to work. Reflecting back in wonderment, he now wanted to ask himself what made him so impulsive that was extremely unlike his usual self. He sighed and almost laughed at himself despite quite a number of passers-by were already offering curious glances in the direction of this hesitant gentleman.

Tilting his shades a little, he turned uneasy due to the unnecessary public attention and so made up his mind filtering out all distractions. He took bold steps forward and pulled the door open against all odds.

"Oh, my goodness gracious..." An anxious-filled tone of voice with a freakingly worried expression from an elderly lady strongly pushing the door simultaneously from the other end nearly caught Jiro off guard.

The unexpected incident also caused the lady to lost grip of her cellphone and it landed noisily onto the ground.

Jiro responded fast enough by retrieving it up and gave her back, which she immediately snatched hold of but with greater despair and even more intense distress.

He attempted his best to calm her down, "Madam, don't worry...I don't think it's spoiled, only some minor scratches..."

She turned to him pleadingly, "No, you won't believe...this is an emergency...I'd ran out of battery for my phone and...and...that little young lady just passed out right before me!"

He was taken aback, "Huh? Wait, can you talk more understandably...A lady...inside?"

She got all the more hysterical instead without further explanation and led him out of the doorway before shoving him into the store. Her abrupt action nearly got his head spinning before he was alerted to the sight of the person laying unconscious once more on the floor.

Quickly crouching down beside her frail form, he recognised beyond mistake and tried to nudge her awake.

Speaking up again after a full minute, the other lady pressed, "No moving...no talking...Oh, no time...Don't delay, young man!"

Jiro looked up at her and then turned back to attending Rainie. Beset another time with overwhelming concern, he swiftly draped her arms over his shoulder and picked her up rather effortlessly to race out of the store.


	20. Chapter 20: Solace

Squinting her eyes open, she lifted her hand feebly to shield them from the sudden blinding lights emitted from the ceiling right above the bed she was lying on. The dizzy spell from her expected waking made her senses all fuzzy for a while.

Feeling her quick-spinning head, she tried to grasp hold of her own cluttered mind and piece her gradually recovering state of consciousness back in place. Uncovering her readjusted field of vision, the confused girl stared about the place she had been urgently brought into without her knowing. Rainie bit her lip upon realisation.

"Goodness, what luck," she sighed in exasperation. Imagining knocking herself hard against the wall to curse her misfortune yet again, she has not a single idea as of current to rectify the situation. Not that her life has previously been smooth, but that the present turn of events was truly absurd.

She was extremely frustrated to be the least aware that there was no one else apart from herself in the hospital room. Not until when the sound of the door opening and increasingly audible footsteps alerted her without warning, Rainie would have continued to wallow ceaselessly in her depression.

Overwhelmed with relief, he uttered gratefully upon first sight of her, "Oh, you're finally awake...Great..."

She almost could find the courage to face him, "Th-...thank...you..."

Reaching her bedside, he was somewhat bothered by her bluntness, "Are you alright? I think I had better get the doc..."

He was about to push the button when she cried out without delay, "Wait, no..."

Turning back to her, his expression registered puzzled concern, "What's the matter? I can easily tell you don't look quite well...to me at least...It's better to get the doctor to check on you so as to be more assured..."

Rainie only looked away again, to purposefully avoid his gaze. Her tiniest glimmer of faint hope appeared to be devastated within herself.

Jiro saw through her painful ordeal and attempted his best to come up with a way to console the wretched girl. He managed an encouraging smile, "Well, things can be not as bad as they seem upfront...Just cry it out if you want to...Our eyes are not meant for holding up heart-wrenching tears..."

Taking in his words, Rainie breathed heavily and closed her eyes against all crushing emotions.

Jiro grew worried immediately, "Hey, are you sure you're okay?"

Despite the rapidly surging pent-up distress and agony, she forced herself to respond, "Don't worry..."

Her obvious expression and grievous tone failed to make him buy her lie. He merely vented, "I don't believe you..."

Rainie resignedly opened her eyes once more to face him, "What?"

He was even more convinced instead while stressing resolutely, "You are clearly in a bad shape...Is it really that tough to cry or simply shed a tear or two?"

She looked down, unable to accept his question nor retort.

Witnessing her denial, he only drew closer and tried to aid her in expressing her unutterable hurts and anguish. "It's never a brave thing to hide yourself in an obscure corner and discover that solutions don't come when you most anticipate them on your own...not willing to bet on the chance that ranting them out would give you higher rates of success in defeating all ruthless ills attacking your life..."

Rainie did not know why, but found herself almost regaining the long-buried urge to pour out her suffering fully, yet...

She encountered great difficulty in voicing out her internal affliction, "I...just...I...can't...cr-...really...don't know..."

Jiro beheld her throbbing struggles and wondered aimlessly if he had spoken too harshly at her a minute ago.

Rainie's lament became all the more intense and uncontrolled. Although her eyes were still clearly dry, she was apparently sobbing and striving to catch her breaths. Jiro was at a lost of what to do to calm her anxiety. Unable to give in to a conflicting rational second thought, he lunged forward with desperate passion to hug her tight against himself.


	21. Chapter 21: Earnest

Coming back home, Rainie stopped before the front door with hesitation for a while before turning to Jiro by her side who had driven her from the hospital at a pretty late hour this night.

She was not sure how to thank him and became tongue-tied upon locking gaze with him.

As for Jiro, slipping his hands into his pockets for warmth, he then offered an assuring smile instead to console, "Don't worry, I understand your situation...Trust me, and do trust yourself as well, that we will work it all out together..."

Rainie continued to wonder due to inevitable insecurity within her heart. Staring down, she could not refrain from doubting if fate was playing a wild game with her. She fidgeted while feeling still overwhelmingly burdened with the recent uncontrollable events.

He could sense her helplessness to make out what had caused her to be so distressed these days. He stepped closer and softly patted her shoulders, "It's okay to feel weak because you have no idea what would go wrong next second, but as long as you don't lose hope, hope will come within your reach in the most unexpected ways...And before you knew it, an answer is ready to find you when you're most lost...I have always believed that..."

Taking in his words, Rainie looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. She tried to laugh it off, "Sorry, I have bothered you alot...But thank you..."

Beholding her struggle to stay strong despite the problem before her, Jiro was touched and almost had the urge to wipe those tears dry again...

"Well, things can be not as bad as they seem upfront...Just cry it out if you want to...Our eyes are not meant for holding up heart-wrenching tears..."

Taking in his words, Rainie breathed heavily and closed her eyes against all crushing emotions.

Jiro grew worried immediately, "Hey, are you sure you're okay?"

Despite the rapidly surging pent-up distress and agony, she forced herself to respond, "Don't worry..."

Her obvious expression and grievous tone failed to make him buy her lie. He merely vented, "I don't believe you..."

Rainie resignedly opened her eyes once more to face him, "What?"

He was even more convinced instead while stressing resolutely, "You are clearly in a bad shape...Is it really that tough to cry or simply shed a tear or two?"

She looked down, unable to accept his question nor retort.

Present...

Jiro quickly snapped out of his flashback in awkwardness and simply pulled out a tissue for her.

She sobbed, "Thanks, I will remember all you'd just said...They are precious to my ears..."

He could at least set aside the worry for now, "I don't know...Somehow I feel that I could be responsible for all those troubles..."

Rainie shook her head to dismiss, "No...don't be...Things are unreasonably strange..."

He only further promised, "In any way, I do believe you...and will definitely help out to figure a solution...As for tonight, remember to get enough of rest and sleep, okay?"

In receiving his generous offer of comfort and firm encouragement, she felt so much better. Finally, she could manage a relieved smile.


	22. Chapter 22: Awareness

Coming home at around 3 o'clock in the morning, the first thing Jiro did after removing his coat is to rush straight into the kitchen to check on his precious masterpiece. It offered him great relief to know that it was all safe and sound.

Carefully taking it out, he brought it steadily over to the living room and placed the metallic case with the most-valued jewellery inside, gently onto the brilliant glassy surface of the coffee table.

He then sat himself solemnly onto the floor right infront of it, deeply contemplating on his next action.

Considering all that Rainie had confided in him earlier, he was somewhat disturbed at first, but later more so apprehensive over the supernatural circumstances described by her. Although he was not certain whether inwardly he really did believe her without reservation, now that he was beholding the sight of this eerie creation of his, he seemed to sense an overpoweringly spooky aura emanating from the shielded case amidst the dimly-lit room. It nearly made him cringed back in aversion.

The outcome of such consciousness was that he knew against all doubt that he wanted to trust her words. Lifting his hands, he drew closer in an attempt to flip aside the silky cloth covering. He felt intimidated as he reached forth, causing his pulse to race and instinct to take long deep breaths...

Wang Zi pulled away his nightcap which obstructed his vision and groped for his cellphone lying on the edge of his bedside table. Upon catching hold of it, he searched painstakingly for the time on the screen before forcing himself alert once again to hit Jiro's number. Letting out a lazy yawn, he slumped back onto the soft bed heavily and mumbled a string of unintelligible words even before it was answered. The ringing tone persisted after he returned to alluring slumber.


End file.
